Population Of White-Line Sphinx Moths Explodes In Chicago Area

CHICAGO (CBS) — It flies like a hummingbird but on closer inspection turns out to be a moth and there are a lot of them around now in Chicago, WBBM’s John Cody reports.

Population Of While Lion Sphinx Moths Explodes In Chicago Area

Biology Curator Douglas Taron says people are seeing White Line Sphinx moths whose population numbers have exploded this year. They’re big for a moth, have patterned wings, and habits of a hummingbird.

“They will hover in front of flowers. They have got very long tongues that they stick down into the flowers and suck the nectar out of it,” said Taron.

The sphinx moth is part of the Hawk Moth family that includes Hummingbird moths but what people are seeing in unusually large numbers around Chicago are White Line Sphinx moths.